Friday, 4 July 2014

Let It Flow: Free MP3 Playlist, 4th July 2014 - 7 Days, 7 Downloads!

Here are the best free downloads to land in our inbox this week. For a continuous playlist, scroll to the bottom of the page.

DoublePlusGood - Sometimes

Portland, Oregon: home to more excellent new bands than we can possibly write about, but as you're probably aware, we give it a go! DoublePlusGood have been around for the best part of a decade, but this is our introduction to them. The catchy, upbeat electro/indie/alt-pop of 'Sometimes' features on 'The 'PDX Pop Now! 2014 Compilation!', and goes some way to proving our point.

Montreal's Code Pie are another who've been conspicuous by their absence from these pages, having formed at the turn of the century, although we did feature offshoot Warmly some time ago. It's our loss, because new single 'Let Me' is the kind of pristine, dreamy indiepop that we absolutely love. Consider them now firmly on our radar.

Also making their first appearance on The Sound Of Confusion are Niagara, an experimental electro-pop/indie/psych band from Turin who will be releasing their second album 'Don't Take It Personally' in September. 'Fat Kaoss' is a melee of styles which come together to give us a song that has its own identity and promises an interesting record in a couple of months' time.

If you want some cheerful, summery, hazy guitar-pop then this slightly psychedelic, harmonious new track from enigmatic Virginians Ladada should be just the ticket. Their new single 'Comets' is full of the joys of spring (or summer if you prefer), and also a nice dose of mid-period Teenage Fanclub if they's just popped a Valium, which is basically the same thing.

Two Twins is the new project of Natureboy and Masterface producer Cedar Appfel, and on 'Bell Tower' he takes us on a journey through different realms of indie music, from the pretty, harmonious first section to a more trippy and innovative piece where he piles different sounds on top of each other, and then turning darker, stopping any ideas about playing it safe.

Aside from the odd mention of Flying Nun Records, New Zealand usually gets unfairly overlooked when it comes to bands. Hopefully Ha the Unclear can go some way to remedying that. Their new single is the ace 'Secret Lives Of Furniture', but recent free track 'Apostate' also gets top marks for bringing their own brand of catchy guitar-pop to the world.

Until now, we've only featured session tracks by San Francisco's Windham Flat, so hearing a studio recording is something a little new. To be honest, the difference is noticeable, and somehow 'The Cure' seems more toned-down and relaxed than the live stuff. It's just as good though, and shows us another dimension to what these guys can do.